1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of animal litter for residential, agricultural, private or commercial uses. The field more particularly relates to animal litter, such as residential cat litter, that provides multiple functions during used, each of the multiple functions selected from the group consisting of use indication, anti-odor activity, antimicrobial activity, and clumping action, while providing a safe environment for the animals using the litter.
2. Background of the Art
Animal waste control is a complex environment issue. The nature of the control impacts both small and macro-environments, and its function should be compatible with both personal and large scale requirements. The issue is most difficult to control on personal levels. Individuals are responsible for the waste management of their individual pets, and yet seek the most convenient methods with minimum individual efforts. Large scale animal waste control is even more complex.
One of the most common small scale or residential scale methods of addressing animal waste involves containment of cat or other small animal solid and liquid wastes. Cat litter is most commonly used, and such litter basically includes a liquid absorbent mass (usually in particle or small volume fibers or shreds), to which various other specific functional materials have been added. Fragrances and more recently clumping agents have been added to the absorbent mass. As the litter products are highly price competitive, amounts, numbers and types of additives have to be balanced against market realities, and only where the additives can provide a significant benefit to the product that can be readily sensed by the commercial user and provide a significant marketing advantage will additional additives be provided.
Clumping agents are used for adhering particulate matter in response to absorbing moisture or liquid. A common example of the use of clumping agents is that of animal litter, where, in response to contact with animal urine or secretions, the litter absorbs the liquid and the clumping agent forms a grouping or clump of litter material for removal and disposal. Clumping agents may also be used for chemical spill clean ups and removal. Clays have long been used in this application on the basis of high water absorption to form clumps that are structurally amenable to separation. However, clays have become disfavored in many settings owing to the high density, sulfate leaching and the tendency to foul piping. In response to these limitations, the prior art has resorted to various types of starches, gums, and cellulose as an alternative to clay.
As these alternative materials become gelatinous through hydration of polymeric chains as opposed to water adhering to clay surfaces and intercalating between clay platelets, different loadings of carbohydrate based polymeric clumping agents are required to achieve an overall clumping effect similar to that of clays.
Guar gum has been a preferred component of clumping agents. Clumping agents composed of guar gum have a clump durability of at least 95%. However, in recent years increased demand for guar gum primarily from the oil industry for use in drilling and by the natural gas industry for use in the hydraulic fracturing process for sourcing natural gas has caused created a shortage of guar gum for a variety of applications including usage in animal litter. Other gums such as xanthans, and other mannose based gums provide varying degrees of room temperature gelation and also suffer from shortages. Starches and celluloses have had lesser success as a clumping agents or gelling agents in settings where high clump strength and high water absorption capacity as a function of agent weight are required, but the starches may be combined with other agents to balance costs, functions and properties.
US Patent Publication 20140000525 (Schumski) discloses a clumping agent composition is provided that includes a pre-gelled starch divided to a starch size with at least 70% by weight of said starch being −200 mesh. An polyoxygenated moiety is present and includes at least one of borax, bicarbonate, or aluminate. The starch and the polyoxygenated moiety combined to form the clumping agent composition with a rapid build of viscosity when wet. A litter is formed when the clumping agent composition is present from 1 to 10 total weight percent decorating the surface of a particulate. Divided carboxymethylcellulose is included in some embodiments along with the starch and the oxygenated moiety.
US Patent Publications 20130220228; 201320260859; 20090181849; and 20080110404 (Theis) describe an animal litter is provided for simultaneously delivering urine-absorbent and mental-stimulating properties of the litter. The litter includes in combination a plurality of urine-absorbent particles forming a litter particulate component and a plurality of unfoldable polymeric cylinders constituting a polymeric cylinder component and intermixed with the urine-absorbent particles. The polymeric cylinders have a mean cylinder height of between 1 and 30 millimeters, a ratio of cylinder height to cylinder diameter of 1:1 to 12:1, and a strip length to cylinder height ratio of greater than 10:1. The litter particulate component is present relative to the cylinders in a volume ratio of 1:1 to 25:1. A process is further provided to mental stimulation and boredom reduction of a caged animal.
US Patent Publication 20080261816 (Birthisel) describes an inventive flowable granular material for adhesion to foliage, which material includes peanut hull fragments as a preferably majority lightweight component, a heavy weight component mixed therewith to improve the flowability of the resultant granular material, and a solvent to aid in the transfer of the foliar active agent to a leaf surface and foliar adhesion. Related particle size distributions and densities are described. Also provided is a process for promoting plant growth comprising: broadcast distributing the inventive flowable granular material to adhere to foliar surfaces; and releasing the foliar active agent onto the foliar surface. This composition may also be used in litter environments or otherwise in the foliage application field benefit from other benefits of the added iodine-releasing materials.
US Patent Publication 20070104749 (Birthiser) discloses a pesticide granule is provided that includes a base carrier particle. A liquid pesticide coating is applied to the particle surface, The coating may contain adjuvants. The coating has sufficient tack to adhere a second powdered pesticide to the carrier particle. The usage of tackifying agents to render the particle surface tacky enough to adhere powdered pesticide is reduced or eliminated. The powdered pesticide is sized to a mean diameter of less than 10% of the carrier diameter to promote adhesion. The synergistic rapid acting pesticide delivery associated with the granule results in the usage of less pesticide to control a given pest with reduced environmental impact. Bifenthrin is a representative of the liquid pesticide. This composition may also be used in litter environments or otherwise in the foliage application field benefit from other benefits of the added iodine-releasing materials
The following US Patents including technology of the inventor, evidence the use of various iodine-releasing technologies in various environments, including those where animal waste is released, to moderate issues with the waste environment. Those US Patents include U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,846,067; 8,734,559; 8,642,057; 8,574,610; 7,943,158; and 7,867,510. U.S. Pat. No. 6,146,725 (Code) further shows the use of particulate combinations of KI and copper sulfate to release iodine in an aqueous environment.
Each reference cited in this document is incorporated in its entirety herein by reference.